Opinion: Little Compton Resident Concerned About Sewage Pollution

LITTLE COMPTON, RI — The following is a letter to the editor written by Little Compton resident Mimi Karlsson. All opinions expressed are the author's.

Open Letter to the Little Compton Beach Commission:

According to the present Sakonnet Harbor Management Plan, swimming is now permitted in Sakonnet Harbor, yet no State testing can occur unless there is a paid life guard and paid parking.

Would it be possible for your Beach Commission to conduct the testing? According to testing our group did in the harbor in 2019 for only 1 day per week for 6 months in 2019, we found severe sewage pollution occurring often enough to cause great concern from March through August.
The public uses the harbor beach, and Yacht Club sailing classes conduct capsize drills and swimming tests in the harbor, not to mention boaters using the public launching ramp having to go neck deep on the ramp to release their boats from their trailers.

We have tried to have the State conduct these tests, but they have refused and feel constrained by present regulations. We find it puzzling that your Commission would offer to test the waters off Almy Creek and the recently acquired Ag Trust lot, while not testing the harbor waters, which we regard as a far more hazardous threat to public health than Sakonnet River waters.

Mimi Karlsson, Retired EPA-AED, John Karlsson, Retired DEM Marine Fisheries Supervisor,
Sakonnet Shore Watch Coalition